NAL Main Entrance Formally Opened
Mayor Robert Brown of Batavia (left) cut the ribbon opening the new Main Entrance Road to NAL Sunday afternoon, September 9. Mayor Brown was introduced by Dr. Edwin L. Goldwasser, Deputy Director of the Laboratory, who noted that NAL and Batavia officials have been meeting for six years on areas of common concern. "It seemed natural for us to have our main entrance at this location, opposite Batavia, and we hope Batavia residents will be visiting us often," he said.
Dr. Goldwasser promised Mayor Brown a souvenir pair of scissors (below) as a token of the event keynoting the formal opening of the new access to communities to the west of the Laboratory.
Mayor Brown expressed appreciation for the opportunity of Batavia officials to visit NAL. Aldermen, park and school board members joined the Accelerator Division’s picnic earlier in the afternoon and were given a tour of the Laboratory after the ceremony.
First to use the new road officially were about 50 bicyclists who had lined up opposite the ribbon. Many were employees and their families who live in Batavia and who will be able to take advantage of the new access road to bike to the Laboratory. At the right side of each lane, a bike path has been marked off by a double yellow line. More than 400 of NAL's employees are now headquartered in the Cross Gallery and Central Laboratory buildings. Coming to work via Kirk Road will be a real time saver for many of these people, as well as for those still located in the Village.
The road was planned to take full advantage of the beauty of "Big Woods," a virgin forest on this part of the NAL site. By dividing the road into two lanes -- one for entrance, the other for exit -- a winding path through the trees was created ending with the reflecting fire pond and its attractive view of the Central Laboratory building just outside the forest.
In the next few months, as administration of the Laboratory becomes centered in the Central Laboratory building, visitors' access to NAL will undoubtedly shift toward the Kirk Road entrance. Its location, about 3 miles north of the East-West Toliway, gives quick, easy access to O'Hare Airport as well as to the major cross-country freeways. This convenience is becoming more and more important to the several hundred experimenters who now visit NAL regularly.
